Three-way battle for BCCI secretary's post

The battle for the Cricket Board's next secretary could be a three-way affair after incumbent N Srinivasan becomes BCCI president next month, according to sources.

Orissa's Ranjib Biswal, Himachal Pradesh's Anurag Thakur and Jharkhand's Amitabh Chaudhary are likely to be locked in an interesting battle to fill up the post to be vacated by Srinivasan. © AFP

Orissa's Ranjib Biswal, Himachal Pradesh's Anurag Thakur and Jharkhand's Amitabh Chaudhary are likely to be locked in an interesting battle to fill up the post to be vacated by Srinivasan.

If reliable sources are to be believed, Biswal is the front-runner for the secretary's post although his candidature may be strongly opposed by other four eastern zone associations Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Jharkhand.

Biswal's advantage is that he has been in BCCI's scheme of things for a long time having served as national selector as well as team manager of India's World Cup winning campaign earlier this year and on number of overseas tours.

But the other four states want Chaudhary as their candidate. "It won't be a cakewalk for Biswal. We would be watching how things unfold and what is BCCI top brass' line of thought.

"As of now, Chaudhary is our choice," an official from one of the eastern state associations said on condition of anonymity.

The dark horse certainly will be young Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association President Anurag Thakur who many consider to be a dynamic administrator responsible for single-handedly bringing up a beautiful stadium in Dharamsala.

In case Thakur becomes the secretary, the BCCI might give East Zone joint secretary's post for which current Cricket Association of Bengal joint secretary Biswarup Dey is in fray.